On a Thinkers & Leaders social network, a question was posed about what made an “authentic leader”. Is it about the person’s quality of thinking? Values? Passion? Charisma?
When I looked at the term “authentic leader”, I am looking at the components and what each means personally to me.
An “authentic” individual exhibits a degree of self-awareness and knowledge of motivators and values that is readily transparent and apparent to even the casual observer.
A “leader” is an individual who acts on behalf of a collective (group, company, tribe, society) with the intent of benefiting as many dimensions of existence of the collective.
An “authentic leader” would naturally engage both of these components in his or her actions and expressions.
Qualifiers like “charisma” and “personable” can be helpful, but these are peripheral to the core components. Unfortunately, we have become so focused on the peripheral that we confuse what is on the surface with what lies beneath.
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Another aspect of authenticity is the degree of congruence the leader demonstrates. Congruence is alignment in every aspect of behavior: thought, word, deed. Authentic leaders are congruent. What they say and do reflects the quality and depth of their thinking. All verbal and non-verbal aspects of their communication send the same message. Congruence is hard to fake. Most of us pick up on subtle incongruities pretty easily.
Congruence is also not so easy to achieve. Given the demands and pressures we face from competing interests, the complexity of our personal values (which sometimes compete with each other), for most of us congruence is a moving target.
For physicians in particular, the tension between serving personal outcomes and serving those of the competing constituencies they represent can be confusing and exhausting. They’re on the run most of the time, so there’s not a lot of time for reflection and introspection. Some make the time for it, others don’t.
An external “ear” sometimes helps to clear the confusion and clarify values.